Simply the most cringeworthy job interview gaffe you’ll read this week
Over on Reddit, u/TipsyTraveler has shared a tale of such excruciating embarrassment at a job interview that we felt ourselves cringing on her behalf as we read it.
Brace yourself.
We were surprised that an interview happened face to face during a pandemic, and we imagine if didn’t help her nerves.
Obligatory; this happened yesterday. The memory still makes me cringe. And cry. I had a job interview with a CEO, in person, despite COVID. I was super nervous, as per usual. Maybe even more than usual, because I really wanted this job.
I tried to calm myself down but by the time the interviewer showed up I could literally feel my heartbeat in my throat.
The crucial misunderstanding happened almost as soon as the interviewer arrived.
He (50ish/M) walked down the stairs towards me, in his nice suit, but stopped halfway down. I figured the interview would take place upstairs, so I got up to meet him. And as I was walking up the stairs towards him, he put his arm up.. and his elbow out. And my brain just sort of went ‘ERRORRR!’.
I suppose it could have only meant two things. It could have meant (A) ‘Please take my arm, milady, so I can escort you to the room as if we’re strolling down the promenade together’, or (B) ‘Please give me an elbow bump, since we can’t shake hands’, which is really not an uncommon gesture at all in the Netherlands.
This is almost certainly going to be the moment her brain brings up when she tries to sleep.
So what did I do? Yes, I went with option A and I eagerly locked arms with this strange man that I’d never met before in my life, as if saying ‘yes, good sir, let’s go for that stroll’.
And then we just stood there! Arm in arm, halfway up the stairs, sheepishly staring at each other. I wanted the earth to swallow me whole. I just didn’t know what to do next and I don’t think he’d fully understood what’d happened, so neither of us moved.
We’d love to know what went through the CEO’s mind.
When he’d finally gathered his senses, he said ‘I eh.. meant to give you an elbow-bump?’, after which I quickly put as much distance between us as I could and mumbled ‘Right! Right, yes, that makes much more sense’. Because it did, let’s face it.
Mood:
At least she stayed for the interview.
And then we had the interview.
TL;DR I got so nervous that I misjudged the CEO’s arm gesture during a job interview, and locked arms with him as if we were Best Friends 4Ever.
Here’s the question we’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another.
Why am I like this?
There were a couple of updates –
In response to a question in the comments, TipsyTraveler said this.
This guy was such a hero. He started talking about the weather and such until I looked less panicked, I think, and then we spoke for over an hour. So I’d say it went ‘ok’.
It looks like she was right.
OH MY WORD! I’ve been invited to the second round of interviews!
She’s paid for that job in mortification, so we wish her well. Reddit users had some thoughts.
Some people had their own mortifying gaffes to share.
If all else fails, blame lockdown.
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Source r/tifu Image Amy Hirschi on Unsplash